In 1918 the Golden Boy statue was cast at the Barbidienne Foundry in France and was hoisted to its perch on the top of the cone of the new Legislative Building of Manitoba on November 21, 1919. The original design called for a monolithic casting to help ensure stability of the statue. But material shortages caused by the war meant that France did not have enough steel, so a steel shaft was purchased in Chicago and then inserted in the left leg of the Golden Boy and plugged at the heel. In 1966 electrical wiring to accommodate a light fixture in the Golden Boy’s torch was added to the statue. This had a detrimental effect on the statue’s health leading to eventual corrosion of the steel supporting shaft.

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